About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Organisation Level

Functional Specialist

Overview of the job

This is non-operational prisoner facing job

Summary

The job holder will be working with prisoners and staff and applying their competence in the area of psychology to reduce the risk of harm and of re-offending by undertaking a range of work including risk assessment of prisoners, conducting research, providing consultancy and delivering training for staff and assessment and interventions for prisoners. This is non-operational and non-rotational prisoner facing job

This job holder will be able to provide designated support and supervision to trainee psychologists

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• Offer authoritative professional advice on targets and objectives for relevant offenders and advise on the best location for those offenders (both within the establishment or relocation to another category establishment)
• Offer professional opinion to teams conducting prisoner reports e.g. lifer reports, parole reports
• Develop strategy and plans of activity for some areas of operation e.g. manages the organisation of Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) assessments or manages assessment and interviews indeterminate sentence prisoners
• Provide consultancy support to colleagues such as the establishments SMT or other teams in relation to psychology services and outcomes.
• Conduct relevant research including data gathering and analysis
• Responsible for managing and providing supervision to trainee forensic psychology staff
• Provide training, mentoring and support to trainee psychologists and other staff
(e.g. interventions staff).
• Can be required to provide professional (designated) supervision of trainee's
e.g. professional Supervision to ensure that a trainee is able to develop through the key steps towards chartered and registered status.
• Ensure staff are developed in accordance with key competencies and gateways and ensuring consistency across the team in the application of policies and procedures affecting staff and prisoners
• Lead on risk assessment and resulting risk management of prisoners
• Participate in risk assessment of prisoners to determine their risk of harm to self, others and the risk of reoffending. May undertake Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) and self-harm assessments.
• Can be required to deliver and/or oversee the quality of programmes (treatment management). These will be of the more complex type requiring such qualified input
• Provide consultancy role on specialist area e.g. Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) strategy or Indeterminate Sentenced Prisoners (ISP) Strategy
• Act as a negotiation adviser where suitable and competence has been demonstrated
• Act as a "professional witness" in parole board hearings, multi-agency meetings, and other formal settings where psychology input is required. May also act as expert witness in respect of court proceedings for Ministry of Justice.
• Maintain own Continued Professional Development (CPD) an registration with the Health Professions Council (HPC)

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,907, HM Prison & Probation Service contributes £13,366 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.